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Birth:          ABT 1146 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andronikos_I_Komnenos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_Komnene,_Queen_of_Jerusalem
Theodora Komnene or Comnena (Greek: Te?d??a ??µ????, Theodora Komnene) (born 
c. 1145) was a niece of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, and wife of King 
Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
Family[edit]

Theodora was a daughter of the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos by his second wife, 
Eirene Synadene. Her father was a son of Emperor John II Komnenos and Piroska of 
Hungary, daughter of King Ladislaus I of Hungary.

Her paternal uncles included Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Her half-sister Maria 
Komnene married King Stephen IV of Hungary.

Queen consort of Jerusalem[edit]

Baldwin III of Jerusalem had taken control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his 
mother and Regent Queen Melisende in 1153. He was unmarried, however, and 
around 1157 it was decided by the Haute Cour that a wife should be sought from the 
Byzantine Empire, the kingdom's most powerful and wealthy neighbour. A Byzantine 
alliance would hopefully also bring much-needed money and military assistance 
against Nur al-Din, sultan of Syria and Jerusalem's greatest enemy.

Attard, archbishop of Nazareth, Humphrey II of Toron, constable of Jerusalem, 
Joscelin Piscellus, and William de Barris were sent to Constantinople to negotiate a 
marriage for the king (Attard died while on the mission). The ambassadors were 
delayed in Constantinople for almost an entire year but it was finally decided that 
Theodora would be chosen as Baldwin's wife. She was at the time only 12 or 13 years 
old, but was already renowned for her beauty. Her dowry was worth 100,000 
hyperpyra, and William of Tyre estimated that her extravagant wedding clothes cost 
another 14,000 hyperpyra. As a dower from Baldwin, Theodora was granted the city of 
Acre, which she would hold as her own should Baldwin die childless.

The ambassadors arrived in Jerusalem with Theodora in September 1158. Aimery of 
Limoges, the patriarch of Antioch, performed the marriage, as the patriarch of 
Jerusalem had not yet been consecrated. Baldwin was previously known for his 
frivolous lifestyle, but now became a devoted and loyal husband. The marriage was 
short and childless: Baldwin died only a few years later in 1162, leaving Theodora a 
widow at the age of about 17. Theodora received the city of Acre, as promised.

Relationship with Andronikos I Komnenos[edit]

A few years later in 1166, Theodora's kinsman Andronikos, a first cousin of her father, 
visited the kingdom and was named lord of Beirut by Baldwin's brother and successor 
Amalric I. Andronikos invited Theodora to Beirut, and the two eloped to Damascus, or 
as William says, Andronikos abducted her in collusion with Nur al-Din. It was likely not 
an abduction; Andronikos was already married, and had already had an affair with 
Philippa, a sister of Prince Bohemund II of Antioch and of Manuel's wife Maria of 
Antioch, and he was likely trying to escape persecution by Manuel, who did not 
approve of these incestuous affairs. As there was no legal marriage, Acre was 
returned to King Amalric. Amalric had also married a Byzantine princess, Maria 
Komnene, and the imperial alliance remained intact.

At the court of Nur al-Din in Damascus, Andronikos and Theodora had two children 
together, Alexios and Eirene, although Andronikos was inevitably excommunicated. 
They also travelled to Baghdad, and then to the Sultanate of Rum where Andronikos 
was made lord of a castle in Paphlagonia.

Some years later Theodora and her children were captured and handed over to the 
emperor Manuel, who kept them in Constantinople as a bait to encourage Andronikos 
to return to his Byzantine allegiance. He did in fact capitulate and visited 
Constantinople in 1180 to submit to Manuel.

When he finally returned to Constantinople in 1182, becoming emperor in 1183, there 
is no evidence that Theodora went back to live with him. It was at this time, however, 
that their daughter Eirene married Alexios Komnenos, an illegitimate son of Emperor 
Manuel I by of Theodora Vatatzina. At this time, too, Theodora interceded with 
Andronikos to pay the ransom for her nephew, Isaac, a former Byzantine governor of 
Isauria now a captive in Armenia; Andronikos afterwards regretted doing so, since 
Isaac rebelled and seized control of Cyprus.

K. Varzos suggests that Theodora Komnene and Theodora Vatatzina eventually 
conspired against Andronikos, but there seems to be no positive evidence of this. Her 
later history is not known.

Namesakes[edit]

Another Theodora Komnene was the wife of Prince Bohemund III of Antioch and sister 
of Queen Maria Komnene of Jerusalem. A third Theodora Komnene was the wife of 
Duke Henry II of Austria and mother of Duke Leopold V of Austria

Parents
KOMNENOS Isaac (ABT 1113 - )
DIPLOSYNADENE Eirene ()

Siblings
KOMNENE Theodora Kalusine (ABT 1146 - )
KOMNENA Eudoxia (Euxodia) (1162 - ABT 1203)

Marriage To KOMNENOS Andronikos I (ABT 1118 - 12 Sep 1185)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
KOMNENOS Isaakios (16 Jan 1093 - AFT 1152)
----- Irene ()

Children by KOMNENOS Andronikos I ABT 1118 - 12 Sep 1185
KOMNENA Eirene (ABT 1164 - )

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